Continuous casting starter bar



July 28, 1970 v. M. NISKOVSKIKH ET AL 3,521,597

CQNTINUQUS CASTING STARTER BAR Filed March a, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 28, 1970 v, M, NlsKovs ET AL 3,521,691

CONTINUOUS CASTING STARTER BAR Filed March 6, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 x 7 5' 70 -H\- ;/-v \I j 5 0 Z13, F/liZ /2-- m o LE [L131 0 7 l4 @"QO 72C?) 72 4 NW United States Patent 3,521,697 CONTINUOUS CASTING STARTER BAR Vitaly Maximovich Niskovskikh, Ul. Festivalnaya 21, kv. 60, Sverdlovsk, U.S.S.R.; Alexei Ivauovich Varaxin, Ul. Dydenko 22, korp. 5, kv. 374, Moscow, U.S.S.R.; and Anatoly Ivanovich Litvinov, Ul. Kirovogradskaya 11, kv. 18; and Evgeny Jukhimovich Gelfenbein, Ul. let Oktyabuya 28, kv. 51, both of Sverdlovsk, U.S.S.R.

Filed Mar. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 620,958 Int. Cl. B22d 11/08 US. Cl. 164-274 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flexible starter bar for a continuous casting machine formed of articulated links and having means to adjust the thickness of the links to provide for passing the starter bar downwardly through the casting machine.

The present invention relates to dummy bars or starter bars of continuous casting machines.

Known starter bars employed in continuous casting plants have withdrawal devices disposed in the secondary cooling ssytem. Such starter bars comprise a head, which is introduced into a mold and closes it from below at the moment of the initial filling of the mold with metal. The head of the starter bar is connected to the body which is in contact with withdrawal devices disposed in the secondary cooling system.

In continuous casting plants provided with a curved mold starter bars whose bodies are made in the form of solid rubber are often employed.

The introduction of these starter bars into the mold is etfected from the secondary cooling system by reversing the drive of the withdrawal devices, the starter bar passing through the whole secondary cooling system until its head enters into the mold. This results in the difficulty that the starter bar can be introduced into the continuous casting plant only after the withdrawal of the ingot. Also, in plants to be employed for casting ingots of various cross section, a great number of starter bars of different sizes are used and this is likely to complicate the operation of continuous casting plants.

An object of the present invention is to provide a starter bar for continuous casting plants which could be introduced into the mold from above, i.e., directed from a tundish.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such a starter bar for continuous casting plants which could be employed when casting ingots of various cross sections.

The principal object of the invention consists in that in a starter bar for continuous casting plants comprising a head and a body connected thereto the thickness (cross-sectional dimension) of the body.

To vary the thickness of the body, it is expedient to make the latter of two movably connected longitudinal parts and a device disposed therebetween for their relative displacement.

The device for the displacement relative to each other of longitudinal parts of the body may be made of at least one inner tube filled with air.

Alternatively, the device for the displacement relative to each other of the longitudinal parts of the body can be made in the form of a spring, disposed between the longitudinal parts of the body, and an eccentric for com pressing the spring, said eccentric being disposed on one of the parts of the body and connected by tie rods to its other part.

3,521,697 Patented July 28, 1970 ice When employing the starter bar in continuous casting plants, provided with a curvilinear secondary cooling system, the body of the starter bar must be made flexible, and it is expedient to make the body in the form of links articulated to each other.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from a consideration of the following description of exemplary embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an outer view of the starter bar according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an outer view of another embodiment of the starter bar according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view, taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

The starter bar is composed of a head 1 ,(FIG. 1) and body 2, interconnected by a pivot pin 3. The body 2 of the starter bar is composed of two longitudinal parts 4 and 5, each of which comprises links; the links of the longitudinal part 5 being interconnected into a series of links with the aid of pivot pins 6, while each link of the part 4 is connected to a corresponding link of the part 5. This makes it possible to make the body 2 flexible. The starter bars with flexible body are employed in continuous casting plants provided with a curvilinear secondary cooling system (not shown), because they can assume the required curvature and pass therethrough. FIG. 1 also shows such a position of the body 2 in a curvilinear secondary cooling by chain lines.

Between the longitudinal parts 4 and 5 of the body 2, there is provided an arrangement for effecting their relative movement, said arrangement being made in the form of an elastic inner tube 7 of, for example, a syn thetic resin or plastic material having elastic properties, and filled with air (FIG. 2), which provides for adjusting the thickness (in cross-section) of the body. The value, by which the thickness of the body is varied, is determined by the arrangement of nuts 8 on pins 9 connecting the longitudinal parts 4 and 5 of the body 2.

To supply compressed air into the elastic inner tube 7, there can be provided a branch pipe 17 having a flexible hose 18 attached to its other end (FIG. 1). The branch pipe may also have a valve 19 for convenience.

To protect the working surfaces of the mold, when introducing the starter bar from above and through the mold, the body 2 of the starter bar is covered by elastic plates 10 glued thereon, said plates increasing the coeflicient of friction between the body of the starter bar and working parts of the withdrawal devices of the secondary cooling system.

FIGS. 3 and 4 represent another embodiment of the starter bar, whose body is also adjustable as to its thickness. The body 11 is flexible and is composed of links articulated to each other, each of said links consisting of two longitudinal parts 12, 13 with a device disposed therebetween for effecting their relative displacement. This arrangement is composed of springs 14 and eccentric 15 for compressing the springs 14 disposed in the longitudinal part 12 of the body 11 and connected to the longitudinal part 13 by tie rods 16.

If the starter bar is to be employed in continuous casting plants of the vertical type with no curve in the secondary casting zone, the longitudinal parts of the starter bar body may be made in one piece.

The starter bar operates as follows.

The starter bar is introduced into the continuous casting plant from above through the mold. The air may be let out of the inner tube 7 (FIGS. 1, 2) by valve 19,

so that, the dimensions of the body 2 of the starter bar are considerably smaller than the internal cross section of the mold and the distance between the working parts of the withdrawaldevices of the secondary cooling system. The body 2 of the starter bar passes freely through the mold, and is lowered into the secondary cooling system of the continuous casting plant.

After the head 1 of the starter bar reaches the required position in the mold, air is supplied to the inner tube 7. After the inner tube 7 is filled with compressed air, the valve 19 is closed and the flexible hose 18 is removed from the branch pipe 17. The longitudinal parts 4 and 5 move relative to each other until each link has expanded (see 5 in chain line FIG. 2) in each link. The plates are thereby tightly clamped to the working surfaces of the withdrawal devices.

The elasticity of the inner tube 7 and the manufacture of the starter bar in the form of an articulated chain of links connected by pivot pins 6 allow the starter bar body to pass freely through the curvilinear secondary cooling system.

When handling the starter bar in the horizontal position, for example on a roller table, its body under the action of pressure in the inner tube preserves the rectilinear shape.

When using the embodiment represented in FIGS. 3, 4, it is introduced into the mold in a similar way, while the variation in the thickness of the body is effected by the relative displacement of the longitudinal parts 12, 13 brought about by turning the eccentric 15.

The starter bars of the design thus described are simple in their construction and convenient for use in plants for continuous casting of metal both of the vertical type and in those provided with the curvilinearsecondary cooling system.

Though the present invention is described in connection with a preferred embodiment thereof, it is evident that there may be allowed modifications thereof that do not deviate from the idea and scope of the invention, which will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

These modifications are considered not to depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A starter bar for the continuous casting of ingots of various cross-sectional size, which bar is to be introduced through a mold, Withdrawn through a secondary cooling zone, and is adjustable in cross-sectional dimen sion, said bar comprising a head portion adapted to contact the cast metal; a body made of a plurality of articulated links, each link having two interconnected relatively movable longitudinal parts; means for relatively moving said longitudinal parts so that the cross-sectional dimension of said body can be altered, dependent upon the dimensions of the ingot being cast; and the entire bar being flexible for use in curvilinear secondary cooling zones.

2. A starter bar as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for effecting the relative displacement of said longitudinal parts of the body comprises at least one elastic inner tube capable of being filled with compressed air.

3. A starter bar as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for effecting the relative displacement of said longitudinal parts of the body is in the form of springs interposed between said longitudinal parts and an eccentric for compressing said springs, said eccentric positioned on one of said longitudinal parts and connected by tie rods to the other longitudinal part.

4. A starter bar as claimed in claim 3 wherein said body is made of a plurality of articulated links, each link having two relatively movable longitudinal parts, all the longitudinal parts being movable by said elastic inner tube.

5. A starter bar as claimed in claim 4 wherein the outer faces of said longitudinal parts have an elastic covering so as not to damage the mold when it passes through.

6. A starter bar is claimed in claim 2 further comprising' restraining means to determine the maximum dimension said body can be adjusted to.

7. A starter bar as claimed in claim 3 wherein said body is made of a plurality of links, each link having two relatively movable longitudinal parts, there being at least two springs and tie rods for each link.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,318,366 5/1967 Loldessy 164-274 2,947,075 8/1960 Schneckenburger et a].

3,237,252 3/1966 Ratcliffe 164-283 X 3,372,731 3/1968 Pauels et al. l6482 FOREIGN PATENTS 344,528 3/ 1960 Switzerland. 1,061,039 7/1959 Germany.

J. SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner R. S. ANNEAR, Assistant Examiner 

